Monday, November 05, 2007

The young man you see in this picture---John Lewis---might not be with us much longer. Sadly, there is a pretty good chance he will end up on the receiving end of a police officer's bullet, or he will become the property of the state of Pennsylvania for the rest of his natural life.

You see, the young man in the picture allegedlyshot a Philadelphia police officer to death while he was robbing a donut store. And right now there is a massive man-hunt here in Killadelphia to bring him in. The Police Commissioner was all over the television earlier today ominously telling this young man to turn himself in before it's too late. There was also a number of his family members pleading for him do the same. They do it, because they too know what often happens to alleged cop killers in the end.

So I watched the news coverage today, and along with the Commissioner, there was this young man's grandmother, his aunts, his mother, and his neighbors; all pleading for the young man to call them, and to turn himself in to the police. His grandmother was actually crying and pleading with him to call her. She lamented about his life and how he loves to eat, and what a good kid he is. (Aren't they always) Then she spoke about how she had taken him job hunting just days ago, and how he was actually working on his GED after dropping out of high school. (Don't they always)

But this story is sad on so many levels that I don't even know where to begin. On the one hand, there is that poor police officer and his family who lost a father and a husband. Then there is the family of this alleged killer, and the pain they are going to have to go through. (His mother is actually a corrections officer) And finally, there is the three month old child he just fathered, what is going to happen to that little soul ? A child who will more than likely never see her father free or alive again. (Not that she would have seen him that much anyway)

Another thing that bothers me about this story, is that I saw no father, no uncle, or no grandfather pleading with this young man to call home. None! Why is that? Where is this alleged killer's father or male role model in his life? Honestly, I don't even know why I am asking, because I know you all know the answer to that.

This episode bothers me, because I have defended young men like this one before in criminal cases. And I can count the number of times on one hand that there was a father present when I talked to the family of an accused. Every time I think of what this young man allegedly did I shudder. The cold calculating way that he allegedly executed that cop, and the nerve he showed to go back and pick up the cop's service revolver after that unspeakable act. No remorse, no feelings, nothing. Just an empty cold heart cultivated by a life on the streets.

I have grown numb to all the killings now, and I have been in the belly of this beast a time or two. But when someone executes someone who is paid to protect me, it's definitely a cause for me to pause.

I know one thing, if this young man's father is absent, and if he was just another sperm donor who made a deposit and rolled; he deserves the same fate as whatever befalls this young man. Because If he did pull the trigger that killed that cop, they might as well have pulled it together.

66 comments:

just passin' by
said...

I drive a Metro bus in Seattle. the other night I had this extremely drunk obnoxious old white guy in a wheelchair in the front of the bus. A young black kid around 16 years old got into an argument with the old guy and yelled at him I'll fuckan shoot you. He didn't display a gun but everyone knew there was a good chance he had one. I pulled into a bus zone and people were hitting the back door. The kid went out the front enraged still yelling "I'll shoot you." Check out this music review in the NY Times of Pimp C and Bun B's new album in which: "In a silky song called “Gravy,” Bun B waxes physiological: “When I put one up in your dome/You’ll be leakin’ out plasma and pus, and your mouth’ll fill up with foam.”"http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/07/arts/music/07sann.html

Another thing that bothers me about this story, is that I saw no father, no uncle, or no grandfather pleading with this young man to call home.Posted by field negro at 12:13

Field baby bubba, you gone conservative Negroe on us?

I know one thing, if this young man's father is absent, and if he was just another sperm donor who made a deposit and rolled; he deserves the same fate as whatever befalls this young man. Because If he did pull the trigger that killed that cop, they might as well have pulled it together.Posted by field negro at 12:13 AM`

why are the grandmother, mother and aunts NOW pleading with this dumbass to turn himself in?...they should have been pleading with his ass to not leave home and rob a damn donut store!!...wtf!!...annoying...its a little too late now...

Well put FN. What a dumb ass to rob a Dunkin' Donuts anyway, everybody know they are crawling with cops. I'm glad they have a name and face finally so now the cops can stop profiling every overweight black man they see. It was starting to become ridiculous.

Dang, Field, before I can say "Good Morning" I'm reading this post and getting ready to toss my breakfast.

I'm going to take a different tack here, and some of the ladies on this board are going to get angry with me, but be patient, okay?

First off, yeah, the mother and the grandmother is pleading with homeboy to turn himself in. Like someone said upthread, they should have been pleading with his ass not to be out in those streets, robbing donut stores; but they should have stayed on that ass about staying in school and getting a job. Why is his grandmother taking him to look for a job - isn't he man enough to go look for himself?

We can blame his sperm donor father, but his mother needs to take some responsibility for how this kid turned out. I won't back down from this statement, because when the women don't demand accountability from the men we allow into our hearts and our bodies; when we lay down and conceive children with men who haven't demonstrated they will commit to us and not run out when things get tough - the end result is mothers pleading for their children to turn themselves in to the police...or get to drug rehab...or SOMETHING.

Women fail to demand that a brotha prove himself to be a real man before spreading those legs. Get past how he physically turns you on; does he have gainful employment; is he responsible to take care of familial obligations, you know, SHYT LIKE THAT?

And women, we have got to stop coddling our men, and allow them to BE MEN. There seems to be a dynamic in families where the mother tends to go easy on her son, but damn if that daughter of hers is going to leave her house without knowing how to cook, clean, balance a checkbook - all those essentials.

I know, because I grew up in a household where dad was king; the sons were Princes, and I was the daughter. My mother made me learn how to cook, clean house, wash laundry - all that stuff, and you can believe my brothers didn't learn anything but how to wash their own laundry.

My sister-in-laws were cussing my mother under their breath because she sent them sons that could hold down jobs, pay bills and think that was all they had to do. They couldn't keep house to save their lives. But, I digress from the point I want to make and that is, for the men to be responsible, we women must insist on demanding accountability and responsibility from them, otherwise you have ill-equipped parents, raising ill-equipped children and sending them out in the world to fend for themselves.

Even if mother didn't have a husband, didn't she have any male role models to surround her son? This kid is starting to prove that while a mother can provide nurturing for her son, she can't provide the male guidance a boy child needs to really become a man, because she is NOT A MAN.

This is sad, and the irony is, this cycle is going to continue until those 10,000 brothas get their org up and running.

Sorry for the long post, but, dayum, this is breaking my heart to no end.

I am curious to know, since there is no father present, if these mammas and grandmas (aka “the harem”) take Jr. to the FREE library, or the FREE museum, or watch FREE public television on a regular?

How many of these fatherless households forgo the weekly "hurr do" or Korean nail shop appointment (and, no, I'm not hatin' on Koreans; they are responding to simple supply and demand economics) to pay for academic tutoring, ballet, or foreign language lessons?

I bet this dude’s harem made sure he had a Sony Playstation and the latest Jordan’s…

FN has NOT gone conservative on us. He is simply expressing his anger as a black male role model, criminal defense attorney, and one who is angered at brothers who spray the DNA all over 'hood and not caring about the individuals who are developed by the street in the absence of the DNA sprayer.

If FN went "conservative" he would be doing what he does for a living - he could become a coprorate attorney, write posts of condemnation for an entire generation of black people, oh and blame "Hip-Hop", and be done with it.

His post wouldn't have been anything like whet we are reading now if he had "gone conservative".

I find it amazing that so many blacks lament the "profiling" of young black men. If you dont know already pal, young black men SHOULD be feared. It isnt white women, college students, asians, white guys in suits, koreans, etc... that are turning the streets into killing fields....IT IS YOUNG BLACK MEN! WAKE THE F** UP! Young black men SHOULD be profiled. They commit the majority of the violent crimes in cities. Everybody including you know that.

Tell yourself how you would react if you went into the subway and 5 black teens were hanging there looking at you. Now switch their color to white and tell me youd feel the same.

Dont get mad at those "profiling" young black men. Get mad at those knuckleheads for making it tough for honest brothers like me and you. Get mad at the 75% of black men making babies then making tracks. Get mad at those who point the finger at whitey when we know full well it is us who cause the chaos. Get mad at the sisters having 5 kids by 5 men.

If "goin' conservative" means that black kids might be responsible for their own actions....color me conservative.

Some various anecdotes. 1)My next door neighbor, has a 22 year old daughter who has a 2 year old boy and no man. She's bright and pretty-high school diploma and a part-time job in a deli. She has no regular man in her life. She's pregnant. And happy about it-telling me she wants a brother for her little boy. 2) I once heard a young black NY academic on a NPR talk show say that five young black men harassing a middle aged white man on the Subway could not be considered racists. 3) As a bus driver in Seattle I transport people of every color including thousands of black people on the bus every week. 80% of disruptive passenger problems on the bus are young black males. 99% of the times I've been threatened with violence it has been by young black men. The two times I have been physically assaulted have been by young black men. The vast majority of black people who ride my bus know how to act. But when I pull up to a bus stop and there is a crowd of young black men talking loud mother fucker this and nigga that. I'm not happy to see them. And the other passengers -of all colors-aren't looking forward to the ride either.These young men know they intimidate people and play to that stereotype.

Instead of attacking who I might or might not be. (Im not) Try addressing any of my points. One sure way of saying you cant argue with my point is to attack me. How sad.

Your retort is EXACTLY what is wrong in our community today. Many of us cant handle the truth. We must accept the fact that it is our fault we are at the bottom of every negative societal indicators. Therefore it is US who can get ourselves out.

What difference does it make who I am or am not? Does it make what I say irrelevant? Can an idiot recite the theory of relativity therefore rendering it untrue?

Get over it. It is your way of reactionary thinking that keeps us where we are.

This kind of thing is why I left the law and went into business. I was sick and tired of feeling sick and tired.

Honestly, FN, I've gotten to the point where the only thing that makes sense to me now is sort of a "Boys of Baraka" approach: get 'em young and get 'em out. Take these young kids out of that toxic environment and raise them with good values surrounding them, far far away. You've got to do it before the age of 5, because that's when established patterns set in.

That's very paternalistic on one hand, and on the other hand it's very expensive. But anyone who's watched "Boys of Baraka" knows what I'm talking about...

It's easy to think that this ALLEGED killer had no father around (and it's probably true). It's also easy to assign this ALLEGED killer a dark face. That may be true too. But i've worked with this type of kid: The kid in street clothes, tattoos and a blank stare looking off to oblivion, a kid with gravestones in his eyes. And gravestone eyes don't look at you, they look through you his oblivion, to his grave and yours too, if you catch him at the wrong time.

I remember one kid I "counseled." he was representative of a lot of them. He was white. His mother worked as a waitress. His probation officer sent him to me. I talked. He pretended to listen. When I stopped, he said, "Go ahead, man. Don't let me stop you. I'm just passing through."

Here's what these kids I worked with had in common.

1. Most had fathers AND mothers absent from home. To keep a roof over their head and the lights on, mom and dad worked. If dad was not around, mother worked two jobs. So, essentially these kids were raised by and among their peers. It may be convenient to blame a parent, but I wonder how great a parenting I would be, when I come after I had been working two jobs.

2. Those blank stares came from poor whites, Hmong gangbangers (lots of them here in Minneapolis/St. Paul), Somali khat smokers as well as young black males, with or without a GED. 3. And at the time I stopped working as a youth counselor, increasingly those stares were coming from middle class white thugs as well (Like the Columbine kids that walked into a school and killed people). They, too, had absent parents who were spending their time trying to get as far away from black folks as they could, working extra hours to pay for a big house in the suburbs and two SUVs.

4. None of these kids represented the average member in their ethnic group, or family, for that matter. Other members of their family seemed to be doing pretty well. They seemed to represent a small but dangerous group of socio-paths that belonged to all of us but really to no one. They just seemed to be alienated criminals just passing through.

A white cop told me once about his philosophy on criminals. He said in every group, 5% are assholes. I didn't believe him then. I do now.

The cpl comment on holding women responsible for bringing in these kids into the world without any thought of how raising these kids w/o a father can reap serious reprecussions for society in general is right on que.I don't have hardly any girlfriends now because I tell them how I am sick of hearing them complain about their fucked up choice of baby daddies ain't doing this and ain't doing that and then try to act like it's my fault for me picking a responsible man and marrying my children's father(yes both of my kids have the same daddy).I say to them how was he taking care of his other kids he got by other women? If he's over 30 y.o. why is he still living at home with mom? How was he with money? Weren't you scared of getting AIDS from someone you known less than six months? Were you scared that if you question him and/or overlook obivous faults of his, you're going to lose the loser?Then I got one girlfriend who likes them fresh out of jail. I can see her son already is going to go down that path.A man can't do what a woman allow him to do to her.

Brotherkomrade--I don't hide behind aliases or avatars like some folk do. I am sad and sick to say this, but if the cops kill this dude, fine by me. We have too many mad dogs among us and Lord if don't clean up our act I fear depro provera will be our only hope for cleaning out a whole generation whom we've failed ("educated" black folks and leaders), AND who've failed themselves (eg I rob and kill and get pregnant and act like a ho or crazy etc etc etc...or rap about it...because I have "no choice.") Bullshit. Trouble is, I'm not going to fall on my sword to help folks like this. That's my choice, and like it or not, choices like that are more legitimate than the choice to rob a donut shop and murder someone. I have to live in the real world, with jobs and bills and white folks and Starbucks and form 1040s and regular clothes from Macy's and not calling folks "muthafuckas" in supermarkets, etc. These folks have decided that the hood or hood mentality is their universe. You can fight but so hard, and I am tired of fighting Mr. Charley while looking over my shoulder at our own people fucking up. That's all Bill Cosby's saying.

I don't take any glee or sanctimonious self satisfactio over this. It depresses me. But this is reality and unity means we all get behind it and stop boo hooing over these fools and try t save as many little boys and girls as possible--even if it means saving them from their own biological parents, their homes, and from enablers like ghettocrat professors, politicians, or "social activists."

I agree with you clp. I'm a single mom raising a male child, and I'll be damned if I send him out into the world without knowing the basics. I grew up in and household were my brothers were coddled too. I feel sorry for whatever woman ends up with them. I promised myself that my son wouldn't be raised that way, and I'm sticking to that. As far as his positive male role models he has a few, so far so good. I child can have many role models but all of them aren't always all that positive.

My real name can be found on either my personal blog or the political one and face can be found on my myspace page which is linked from my personal blog.

Christopher, I hear you on what you're saying I do disagree on the blanketed statements regarding social activists. I haven't been around any one who does work in the community who hasn't spoken up against tthe internal strife. The problem is black folks never hear these people because we think Jesse and Al are the only two activists there are, and yes, they don't say or do anything about the internal stuff, but then again, why should we look them for that? They are self-appointed leaders. We can be our own leaders when it comes to these things.

Im gonna co-sign on the fact that mothers in general irregardless of color seem to coddle their sons and rip of their daughters heads and shit down their necks.

Maybe I am just bitter because when I moved in with my mom for my last year of college, not my entire stint mind you but my last semester, I paid her rent and I happened to buy my own cereal for me and not the house, I was called a "cheap ass nigger".

Flash forward to 2007, my brother lives @ home does not give her a penny, does not clean his room, just found a low paying job, doesnt do his laundry, doesnt clean up his dishes and generally does nothing. She gives him a pass because he goes to college, but soooo much more was expected of me. He receives little to no sorts of abuse that I got.

But im sure thats another conversation to take place laying on a couch with some professional listening, but you get the point.

Black women need to raise their boys to be men and we grown women as adults need to allow them to be men. Respect their judgements and allow them to make mistakes. Not so much with the nagging and questioning all the time. Men need to be allowed to make their own way w/o criticisms and I told you so's waiting for when things dont pan out.

Brokomrade: I'm with you. I'm sick of some of us using Sharpton and Jackson to rationalize not helping out in our community. Al and Jessie have a role play. But the real social activism occurs when we set up and work in programs that have already been identified by field and others on this blog: parenting classes, mediation classes, business classes (How to start your own business), conflict resolution workshops; work with groups like The Boys Club and 100 African American Men, which tutor and mentor kids and take them on trips like movies and museums. These programs have proven to make a difference. They don't save all kids, but they save a lot of them.

What Mena and the others said about women needing to do a better job in the selection of men and raising boys is righteous. But, after a certain age, kids, especially boys, stop listening to their mothers and need men to help even more than they did before.

The girls need us, too. Research shows that many women marry men whose attitude and behaviors are similar to their fathers. The girls need us to serve as positive role models of what a future husband or mate should be.

My little (though grown) cousin was one of the many killed in cold blood in Philadelphia this year. I used to be able to say I was from Philadelphia with pride. Now, even though I've only been gone some 5 years(having left right when the mess was starting for a job), people look at me with horror and pity when I tell them where I'm from. And that breaks my heart. Our close to ninety year old grandmother has buried her siblings, her youngest son to illness and now her next to youngest grandson.

Am I the only one who remembers community policing, with the small police satellite units in the neighborhoods? And cops who were walking the beat instead of riding in cars? What happened to this idea? I really think that if the officer in your neighborhood is someone you know you act differently.

"When I asked about Mychal Bell,Gnarlow Wilson: I was severely castigated by the the Field."

Yes nsangoma, because you missed the point. Jena wasn't about those two boys, it was about an out of control DA, and an unjust system of justice.

You seem to be still missing the point. If you keep trying to find labels for me (Conservative, Liberal, etc.) I am afraid you will go crazy, because it's not about that with me, it's about what's best for black people as a race,period.

I think most of the people who comment here have been trying to tell you the same thing.

"former philly resident", that was a sad story, and I feel you with all the issues we have here. But don't give up on us just yet, we will get our streets back.

brotherkomrade, good answer to chris. Chris, like all of us, is frustrated, and I think he is reaching his breaking point. But as long as he doesn't go to the dark side, chris will be always cool with me :)

I have to ditto what Chris Chambers has stated... But for the record... I am behind an avatar/alias due to practical necessity. If I were a self employed author...or business owner, I probably wouldn't have any trouble with being a little more out in the open (although I am extremely private anyway...and love using an alias).

On this issue.... we have to move to the question of what to do about it.

We hear over and over and over again about what the problems are. We have been stuck at that spot for the last two decades.

A few things that I see as constant threads within "Black communities" is this race to the bottom atmosphere...whether it's Black women's choice of men... A lack of value for education, Right behavior being White behavior... money always being the bottom line in so-called "Black culture" rather than principles and values, this honoring of rappers/thugs/pimps/Black celebs and athletes as heroes...raising these people up as role models that youth should aspire to be (and this often comes from the Black elites too), and this idea of fatherlessness being an acceptable norm. It's now become normal for Black women to have multiple children by 2, 3, 4 different men. WTH has happened??? And what about this lack of shame? When I was growing up in the late 70's thru the 80's ...there was still a little stigma, shame, & taboo attached to the idea of a teen being pregnant....out of wedlock, etc. Now it's no big deal. So the rules of the game have shifted.

These seem to be the constant threads. I don't have the answers on how to fix it... and it probably can't be fixed in my lifetime... but something has to happen. Because I don't see how this can be a sustainable situation. There is a permanent underclass being created... Blacks are not the only ones of course, but they will make up a good portion (disproportionally high number) of that permanent underclass IMO...especially as globalization and competition for jobs will increase in the coming years.

It would be interesting to know what Booker T. Washington would say about the current situation... because he was a solutions thinker, and he had his thumb on the pulse of the Black socio-economic situation of his time.

former philadelphia guy:I remember community policing. I don't know about Philly but, in Atlanta, it was a uniformed cop who strolled up and down the street, speaking to people by name. Sometimes, people told him to talk to neighbors who played their music too loud or a husband who hit his wife over the weekend. Sometimes you would see them deliver a fan to an old lady at a house when it was real hot. They always asked us about how we were doing in school, saying they could arrest us for getting bad grades. I lied

...Bartenders would ask them to talk to a guy if they thoght he was going to start a fight or hurt someone. I wouldn't say they were universally loved (especially not by the men who fought in bars on weekends), but because they knew everybody and stopped a lot of stuff before it got out of hand, they could walk down the street alone and nobody shot at them or bothered them...Everybody's watching Philly and hope they somehow pull out of the violence. They know their black communities could end up the same way. Blessings.

If the black middle class thinks they can write off the rest of black America as a loss and expect anything but a return to slavery for their own formerly middle class grandchildren they are not in touch with "reality"...no matter how many starbucks bills they succumb to as they live check to check on 700 billion.

What to do about it?

Give up your stake in the burbs and use the critical thinking skills you had before massa degreed you.

Come up with ways to employ and educate these kids towards something other than the crass consumption you fell into.

Go save these babies realizing without doing so your own babies will NOT be safe.

And for god's sake stop acting like you got amnesia....if you truly a field negro you know good and damn well the overseer is not paid to protect you.

"But when someone executes someone who is paid to protect me, it's definitely a cause for me to pause.

Yeah I've been witness to this time and again, and it still disheartens me to see this happen. Unfortunately, we don't have enough role models in our communities for our men (or our women for that matter). Yet, I'm also starting to see a trend of the present father, at least everywhere I've seen, which is good. However, it's still too low if incidents like this keep happening.

Cops - I mean, I dunno, call it the 'Good Old Days' when criminals knew that the last person you killed was a COP.

But, these folks out here, are scary. Had a story on Halloween- Pregnant mother killed, on her block, on the way home trick-or-treating with her three children. They were having a GANG FIGHT ON HALLOWEEN.

Think about that.

The ONE night of the year that they know the streets will be littered with children, and THAT is the night they have a Gang Fight.

Of course he doesn't have a father to speak up for him. This guy is going to join the other 70%+ of Black Orange Jumpsuit Wearers in the Prison Industrial Complex.

Is po po truly protecting you, or the institution that cuts your check?

Acknowledge that po po, black/white/green/yellow, got his boot lodged on the neck of field negroes all over the country.

Always has and always will.

From family doc to civil rights attorney to sanitation engineer...if you TRULY in the field, po po is there with his boot and whip to make sure you're under wraps.

That's what he is PAID TO DO.

Ask the black lawyers who were stopped by good-ole-boy Louisiana cops (black and white officers) in route to Jena whether they think po po is paid to protect them.

Am I making excuses or trying to distract from this kids alleged crime? No.

Our out of control kids are our problem and we better get serious about solutions.

But we've got to do more than parrot euros with self-righteous wailing about the symptoms...while refusing to deal with how the black father got displaced from the home, who benefits from his absence and why he's having difficulty getting back in.

When you imply this kid has no remorse, no feelings, is just a "empty cold heart cultivated by a life on the streets" it sounds more euro than field negro...all you need is that last mile to call our kids animals and the accolades should come rolling in.

Why is this news anyway?

Because some of our kids are so disillusioned they don't respect WHITE life anymore than they do black life.

Which puts house negroes who wanna identify with field negroes in a pickle.

Loss of white life means you must quickly raise up your white flag disclaimers cause Lord knows you can't have massa thinking you got anything in common with those field negroes who've gotten so wild-eyed they going nat vesey.

We (middle class black folk) have two choices really.

Get smart about giving the rapidly expanding black underclass a way out, or get ready to give up our hard-earned privilege...the hard way.

Each and every one of us going to have to save somebody else's babies.

No amount of disclaimers are going to keep us PROTECTED from the euro if/when the fecal matters hit the oscillating blades.

Well well well! where do I begin?Jimbo I am with you all the way. Boys of Baraka (I am a native of Kenya!)would be the way to go. some type of boarding schools that kids from the inner city can attend monday through friday and may the good lord be with them over the weekend would also work very well!

Violence in the inner cities affects every one including those tucked away in the burbs. Who is going to slit the throat of your ivy league educated daughter on her way to a posh club on friday night over a couple bucks? Well the kid from ghetto.

There is a glimmer of hope though with those kipp schools opening up everywhere.You can all talk about women having babies with different men but trust me that is all they know. Being treated like garbage is all they know. Education changes people's way of thinking and as long as there is so much inequality especially in the schools you will end up with kids like this. America is a society that marginalizes and even dehumanizes the poorest of the poor. If you dehumanize people then why is anyone surprised when they act like animals.

Ahh, he is protecting ME. Because as far as I know; the city of Philadelphia can't get its head blown off. You sound like I did before I saw my first body cut open on a morgue tray.

kemetkind, I am not sure where you live, but you sound like a college professor. And some of the things you say make sense. But don't ever get it twisted and not think that it's not real out here and these little mother f*****s won't just as soon put a cap in your down ass, as they would whitey.

BTW,I might sound more euro than field when I post, but I live here and I want to see it get better. And sometimes harsh times call for harsh measures.

Until we get our shit together, we can't even start that revolution you seem to be wishing for.

kemetkind, I am not sure where you live, but you sound like a college professor. And some of the things you say make sense. But don't ever get it twisted and not think that it's not real out here and these little mother f*****s won't just as soon put a cap in your down ass, as they would whitey.

Dammit Field... You made my day with that one!!! In fact...that whole response was right on target.

And some of the things you say make sense. But don't ever get it twisted and not think that it's not real out here and these little mother f*****s won't just as soon put a cap in your down ass, as they would whitey.6:52 AM `

kemetkind, I am not sure where you live, but you sound like a college professor. And some of the things you say make sense. But don't ever get it twisted and not think that it's not real out here and these little mother f*****s won't just as soon put a cap in your down ass, as they would whitey.

You are on the money with this, FN.

On the money.

Did I tell you the one of the drug dealer going up to the folks at the drive through window? When a woman turned him down, he got bellligerent. A GOOD Brotha, comes to the defense of that young woman. And, you know the end to this story - he was KILLED for trying to protect the Sister.

Field I haven't said anything about a revolution...unless you're talking about revolutionary thinking that provides solutions instead of more demonizing of our own people.

Yeah some of our kids would just as soon take me out as anyone else.

But the fact they've realized a so-called "white" life is worth no more than any other means even if we were livin comfy on our six figures WE ARE NOW IN REAL DANGER because euros in fact don't have any such 1:1 equality of life equation.

If there wasn't urgency before sheer self-preservation says there better be some now.

You need some help identifying the authentic cold, heartless and remorseless killers?

That's what i'm talking about with this middle-class amnesia.

Did we forget those paid to protect us just choked out a kid in boot camp and chalked it up to sickle cell (black and white cops)?

Did we forget those paid to protect us punch and pepper spray 90lb black children for being out after curfew?

We think our bar cards and bank accounts are going to PROTECT us once a whole NOTHER generation of black kids is led out to pasture?

Our children acting wild is ultimately our responsibility.

We left them behind, and if we are to survive, we, the black middle class, must go get them.

You say you want to see it get better field? I believe that. You wouldn't be out here blogging as a field negro.

But once you identify you're sick you can't heal the wound by just talking bad about the symptoms.

Passin by - this is field's blog...if he wants to get off into root causes he's got the pen to handle it.

Kemetkind doesn't want to get off into root causes for statements he tosses up into the air. Doesn't sound like a college professor to me. Sounds more like the approach of nsangoma; but using euro english. If you can't back up your statements of fact with some facts then it's just bullshit and should be valued as such.

I just wanted to let you guys know that the young man, John Lewis was just arrested at a homeless shelter in Miami. Unlike the young man a couple months back who, around 11am shot three policeman during a traffic stop and was found dead approximately 12 hours later because he was "resisting arrest" (a whole 'nother story of Keysotne Cops, misidentifications and I'm certain, much frustration) - Mr. Lewis survived.

As I read through the comments there are two basic all-too-familiar threads in converations that continue to concern me: 1)The implication that the problem with Black sons of single mothers is that there are no fathers or good male role models in these kids lives. That kind of patriarchal thinking flourishes across all the races - reeks of sexism (and some even deeper stuff to me). 2)The way in which many Black folks have stepped into the "master's" (just trying to keep within the blog's theme FN) shoes, vehemently piling on shame, blame and contempt upon each other, particularly upon our children. And then we wonder why they don't feel all warm and fuzzy for anyone else. Our children are working with what they'v been given and we need to stop doing the same things and expecting different results.

And don't get it twisted, I am the mother of two sons married - with a father in the home - for 27 years. Have they done everything right - hell no! Have they done everything wrong - again, hell no! They've done well and poorly as they follow their own journeys but one thing is for sure, they have had parents who've always been both their harshest critics and greatest supporters who made sure they knew, "there but for the grace...."

Just watching news today. A teacher outside a Miami high school robbed and shot by two "unitentified" males. I found myself thinking "Oh God dont let them be young black males" even though in my heart, I knew they were.

I am embarassed beyond words. Can anybody blame non-whites for profiling anymore? Im black and must admit that, like Uncle Jesse, am relieved when I see the sounds behind me are made by whites and not blacks.

nsangoma-you do that so well, maybe you aren't putting people on. Maybe you are just ignorant. I'm off to work to drive the bus. Thought for today: one in three bus drivers in America are black. Black men and women who "man-up" and go to work everyday and and put up with crap from the public but can take pride that they ride on their own carpets. I was just passin' by.

And about those thugs in Miami:Pimp C and Bun B's have a new album out in which: "In a silky song called “Gravy,” Bun B waxes physiological: “When I put one up in your dome/You’ll be leakin’ out plasma and pus, and your mouth’ll fill up with foam.”"

I initially wrote a long rambling post but prefer to leave it at this:

Young black men are profiled where I live because they are causing the overwhelming majority of violent street crime.

There is no shame in our community. There is nothing a young black man can do that won't result in a whole bunch of Negroes standing up to defend him. Getting pregnant at aged 14 should be a shame inducing condition. Don't care if it hurts someone's self esteem. Babies having babies is an abomination.

Parents are not responsible for their kids. They want to be their kids' friends, not their parents. Everything starts in the home.

Bring back the draft and introduce other forms of compulsory public service. Even college students should be required to do something for someone besides their darn self.

We don’t value academic excellence. I watched the Asian version of the Image Awards one year and they were honoring doctors and research scientists among some entertainers. We aren’t even interested in black people who are engaged in science and medicine.

I'm not a conservative. I am left of center generally, and waaay left of center on some issues. I'm a middle class person who lives in a mixed demographic but primarily working class neighborhood with a lot of crime. I've been active in my neighborhood for many years. The worst cancer in our neighborhoods are ineffective, checked out, irresponsible, parents. My observations are that it doesn't matter if you have two parents in a home if they don't compel their kids to go to school, not to hang out on street corners, fail to impose curfews, not to allow their kids to get high, and not spend their lives in front of the TV. This isn't just an issue of poverty, it's an issue of being a responsible parent. Worst monster on my street came from a two-parent home, a "nice family." His parents still think this horrible human being has been mistreated by the system. It all starts at home. We keep laying violence among black young men at the feet of poverty but it is really a lot more complicated than that.

West coast; I agree and youve hit on something that I have witnessed many times. I visited my nephews in San Jose. I picked them up from their middle school. My sister told me what I would see after school. The street outside the school was filled with black kids. Yelling, fussing, throwing rocks, muthaf*** this, N***a that, boomboxes blaring acting like fools, not a parent in sight. Many kids were kids that had been expelled from school and came round everyday to cause trouble. They menaced any kid that passed by even if they were with their parent. The security protected the schoolgrounds and had no authority across the street.(Im guessing the black kids knew that) THEN; we went inside. Not a free chair to be found in the library. FULL with korean, vietnamese and white kids WITH THEIR PARENTS!!! Working on their homework and general reading. The school stayed open until 7pm to accomodate them. Not a black face to be found. I spoke about this to the teachers there. They shrugged their shoulders and said nothing. They knew plenty though.

Well well well! where do I begin?Jimbo I am with you all the way. Boys of Baraka (I am a native of Kenya!)would be the way to go. some type of boarding schools that kids from the inner city can attend monday through friday and may the good lord be with them over the weekend would also work very well!

Thank you August, I appreciate it. I don't know who or what is at fault; whites, blacks, the system... but I know that little kids respond to their environment and are extremely adaptable.

If you want to yell and talk about blame, great. But if you (i.e. you, me, society, politicians) want to talk about SOLUTIONS; then the solution is to remove the empty vessel (the child) from the environment that will fill that vessel with bad values and put that little child in an environment that will fill it with good values.

I have been to South Africa, johnny-rhetoric, and those little black kids are under no delusion that reading books is white. I guarantee you that if that was a South African library the black kids would be the majority in there. later

Well, it was someone black in Oakland that said to go to the libraries on the weekend to see who's in there studying. It's not us.

Some people will interpret this as blaming the victime but we are not victims if we choose to be self destructive. I am so heartened to see so many folks here with the courage to step up and discuss these, frankly, very painful issues. There is certainly a lot of institutional racism in this country but we have done such an effective job internalizing racism that the instiutional aspect can just coast.

Kemetkind doesn't want to get off into root causes for statements he tosses up into the air. Doesn't sound like a college professor to me. Sounds more like the approach of nsangoma; but using euro english. If you can't back up your statements of fact with some facts then it's just bullshit and should be valued as such.Passin by you right I'm not a college professor. I'm 100% corporate and risking just as much as anybody else out here on the net showing true colors.

Me declining your invite to tussle over the demise of the black family is about restraint.

This is not my house. I could take this thing to where I want to go with it. Do it all the time.

But this is Field's blog, not mine. Where I come from you don't go up in somebody's house and commence to scrappin.

Let field give the green light and I'll gladly lay out all the facts you need to help you recognize it ain't no accident our families work (or don't work) they way they do.

My sisters-in-law would agree with how you're raising your son, because all three of my nephews know how to cook, clean, and keep house. My brothers wanted to rail about how that's "women's work" and one of my nephews said, "What if I never marry? I don't want to live in a pigsty.." and my brother left that alone.

They reasoned that as long as they had influence in their sons' lives; that they were teaching them to be respectful of women, starting with how they treat their mothers, grandmothers and aunts (me); teaching them what makes a MAN, the household stuff was icing on the cake. Any woman getting one of my nephews will have a man she can count on because my brothers and sisters-in-law have done what they could to make it so.

The profile of a cop killer is a middle age white male. Yet, the middle age while male is by far less likely to be shot by a cop.

Inddeed, there was high profile cop shooting in the place from which I write by a white guy of several cops. The phot the newspapers displayed was of the white guy standing up in the midst of officers without even handcuffs on him. Beyond this, the white cop shooter was not injured--and had been on a several-month long harassment campaign agains this neighbor--a cop. In the course of the shooting, the crazy white guy shot his neighbor and up several squad cars, gunning for other officers.

Finally, while premature and unnatural loss of life is oftent tragic, a Philly officer--if any police officer-was not put in place to Protect adn serve."

I believe the Philly death count would be low if only enough people cared. Last month, Washington was even able to reduce the death count in Fallujah--regardless of whatever the perceived dysfunction of Iraqi familiers--and their hankering for violence.

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